Belmont Road GCB relaunched for sale at lower guide price

It is seeking buyer through private treaty with asking price of S$40.8m

Sat, Aug 03, 2019


THE sprawling Good Class Bungalow (GCB) at 80 Belmont Road owned by The Stratech Group's Chew family has been relaunched for sale by private treaty after it failed to sell at an auction. It now has a lower asking price of S$40.8 million.

The freehold property was first put up for sale during an auction held on July 23 at Amara Singapore hotel, with a S$42 million guide price.

Marketing agent Knight Frank said on Friday that the property is valued at S$42 million.

The auction had an opening price of S$40.5 million and saw a turnout of 150 attendees, although no bids were placed then, a Knight Frank spokesman told The Business Times (BT) on Friday.

"But after the auction, a few offers have been made and are now undergoing private negotiations," the spokesman added. This is a mortgagee sale, in which the bank forecloses on the property after the owner defaults on the mortgage, and puts the property up for sale to recover the outstanding debt.

BT reported on July 18 that the husband-and-wife team of David Chew and Leong Sook Ching who used to control mainboard-listed Stratech, now in liquidation, are the registered owners of the bungalow, while Deutsche Bank is the mortgagee.

Mr Chew and his wife Madam Leong were made bankrupts last October following a petition by Zana Asia Fund II, searches show.

The two-storey GCB has a gross floor area of 15,714 square feet and sits on a two-tiered land with a lift, playground, basketball court and swimming pool. It also has ample parking space to fit up to 10 cars.

Based on the new S$40.8 million guide price and 27,000 sq ft in freehold land area, this works out to a price tag of around S$1,511.11 per square foot (psf). The earlier S$42 million guide price reflected S$1,556 psf.

Two GCBs in the vicinity have been sold in the past year, Knight Frank said in July. One was a newly completed 15,004 sq ft GCB at 63 Belmont Road which sold for S$39.8 million or S$2,654 psf in June, while the other was a 15,069 sq ft GCB along the same stretch at 43 Belmont Road, also newly completed, which sold for S$33.8 million or S$2,243 psf in August 2018.